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Obama v. Kennedy on Tax Hikes

During President Obama’s speech in Cleveland, he indicated that he still wants to raise taxes on small businesses making over $250,000 a year on January 1st. He criticized House Minority Leader John Boehner for wanting to extend tax cuts to the "rich" claiming that these were "not new ideas." He stated:

Make no mistake: he and his party believe we should also give a permanent tax cut to the wealthiest two percent of Americans. With all the other budgetary pressures we have - with all the Republicans' talk about wanting to shrink the deficit - they would have us borrow $700 billion over the next ten years to give a tax cut of about $100,000 to folks who are already millionaires.

It is true that tax cuts are not a new idea. In 1964, Democratic President Kennedy’s tax cuts represented 8.8 percent of the budget—far greater than even the Bush or Reagan tax cuts. While the federal government faced a budget deficit, Kennedy favored “an across-the-board, top-to-bottom cut in personal in corporate income taxes.” Kennedy’s tax cuts reduced the top income tax bracket from 91 percent to 70 percent. In the eight years that Kennedy’s tax cuts were in effect, tax revenue actually doubled. In fact, every time that a President has dramatically lowered taxes, tax revenue has increased. According to Kennedy,

It is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today and tax revenues are too low and the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the rates now.

On January 1, 2011, the top income tax bracket will rise from 35 percent to 39.6 percent. If history is any indication, these high taxes will discourage production and lead to a decrease in tax revenue. In the end, the “rich” will end up paying fewer taxes due to Obama’s proposed tax hikes.

Tax cuts are a proven method of decreasing the deficit and expanding job growth. As the video below shows, Obama should take a lesson from one of his Democratic predecessors:

FreedomWorks Foundation applauds President Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on their announcement to repeal the Clean Power Plan (CPP). It is our organization’s intention to staunchly support this effort through our Regulatory Action Center, driving a grassroots campaign in support of this critical regulatory reform. FreedomWorks Foundation President Adam Brandon made the following statement:

Section 702, the controversial aspect of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) which allows for mass surveillance of American Citizens, is set to phase out at the end of 2017. Some in congress have introduced measures that would make Section 702, in its current form, permanent law and avoid any reforms which might grant Americans greater privacy protections. Here are 10 reasons why that is an absolutely horrific idea.

As Congress considers welfare reform many are quick to point out the political roadblocks facing actual progress. Although the crumbling welfare apparatus has become a focal point in recent congressional discourse due to the efforts of House conservatives within the Freedom Caucus it will still be an uphill fight to get lasting reforms pushed through at the federal level.

In Louisiana, fiscal integrity is going from bad to worse. Already, the state is facing the largest budget deficit in its entire history, at a whopping $700 million this year, and shortfall projections for next year reaching as high as $1.9 billion. However, in a misguided attempt to try to solve this behemoth of a problem, newly-elected Governor John Bel Edwards has proposed a massive package of tax hikes that affect all walks of life, from personal income to industry. What’s worse, if he has his way in imposing these hikes, the state residents could be feeling the brunt of the costs as early as April of this year. Clearly, Edwards isn’t fixing what ails the state.

On June 29 President Obama published a blog on Huffington Post announcing his “plan to extend overtime protections to nearly 5 million workers in 2016, covering all salaried workers making up to about $50,400 next year.”

President Barack Obama has tipped his hand on how he plans to pay for his budget-busting spending increases. Media reports indicate that he plans to roll out several tax hikes totalling $320 billion in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, including raising the capital gains rate and imposing a tax on big banks' liabilities.

Democracy and Power 103: Government Money
The money taxed and spent by the politicians comes from the labor and ingenuity of millions of working persons. Politicians spend other peoples’ money. The politician transfers money from productive people to favored special interest groups.

Washington, DC- Following news that the Obama administration refused to release documents that could prove the IRS shared taxpayer returns with the White House, FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe released the following statement: